Simply a Shadow of love
by JigokuJester
Summary: Seiren is an adopted member of the Uchiha clan. Love story between Gaara x OC Will start off as Neji vs Gaara love story, then Neji will be successfully forgotten and it will be Gaara vs Sasori. I will maybe branch off into making a separate love story for Sasori. My story will follow the anime
1. The Beginning

The darkness can exist without light, yet light dims without the darkness. But the darkness without light is a vast nothingness… You can't see the black, so you cannot truly call it darkness. The light without dark is simply nonexistent, an empty space. You can't see anything at all. A blank.

So what is better? To dissolve in the black? Or to feel yourself slowly drying up, becoming nothing? A world without light is dark. A world without blackness is nothing more than a void.

But from the unity of these two ancients, a blessed spawn was born. Shadows. The ultimate combination of both light and dark, day and night, black and white… Shadows have form and shape, they change, grow, and yet never truly disappear. Wherever you are, whomever you are, you can be sure there'll always be a shadow following you, be it night or day.

And my story starts from shadows.

A woman ran through the forest, long, black hair bouncing in curls from her back. Shadows flitted over her face through the beams of moonlight on the tops of trees, tree branches swishing by.

She dogged, swerving, but a thick raven curl was sliced off by a well- thrown kunai. She swiftly turned, running backwards, and with one free arm drew a burning pentagram in the air, which expanded. She then resumed running, speeding up faster than ever. Two screams echoed through the silent forest behind her. She smiled, Sharingan eyes flashing crimson in the darkness.

This woman was was an outcast from the Uchiha clan, a notorious S- rank missing ninja. However, she had disappeared from the ninja radars almost a year ago for reasons unknown.

Now she ran, headed towards the Hidden Leaf, towards what once was her home. She stopped several times along the way, clutching her side and leaving a bloody trail afterwards. Her body wouldn't last much longer with the wounds and poison in her system.

Silently passing the outlooks, she glided through the sleeping streets to the Uchiha compound, successfully passing all the concealed rusted traps and a few half- asleep Uchiha guards. She grinned slightly. The Uchiha bastards had grown soft and fat, used to the fame and never- ending adoring looks they got anywhere in the village. Nobody dared to challenge them, for they were one of the 'great' clans with amazing power. Bitterly smiling, she recalled what Fugaku Uchiha had once told her. "The strong rule the weak, and the lesser are to be weeded out by the more powerful and gifted." The bastard. That was why she had left the clan though. But also because a certain someone had invited her to go with him.

She halted now on the back doorstep of Fugaku's house, laying a bundle down on the front step. Kneeling before the baby girl, she gently moved a stray lock of golden- silver hair from her small forehead and kissed her.

-' You look more like him by the day… May you be safe here, my daughter.' Then, straightening up, she formed a few handsigns her dead lover had taught her, and her body dissolved into shadows, fading away till nothing remained. Now, finally, she was one with her dear beloved…


	2. Chapter 1

In the morning a bewildered Mikoto Uchiha (Sasuke's mother, just in case you didn't know) found the baby girl on her back doorstep. Carefully taking off the covers, she discovered a sleeping angelic face with a mop of untidy shimmering golden hair. Then the angelic face yawned and the girl opened her eyes. Mikoto was immediately captivated, caught in the fathomless depths of dark and light green colors, swirling in a whirlpool of emerald. The sensation of being further dragged into those pools was enhanced when the girl smiled and golden flecks flitted around her eyes like leaves in autumn. The smile seemed to reach somewhere deep inside Mikoto and stir up something long forgotten. It was a peaceful feeling, like standing in a glade of trees in the morning, the wind blowing your hair, the beams of sun bouncing from leaf to leaf until they got caught in your hair or attacked your eye (heheh, that's something that often happens to me), the smell of fresh flowers and dew in the air.

So Mikoto was startled when she was touched on the arm by an equally bewildered Fugaku Uchiha (who had also looked into the girl's eyes mere seconds ago, but being used to illusions since he was a sharingan user, he quickly overrode it).

-' Fu…. Gaku….' She managed to get out, not completely free of the illusion.

-' Mikoto *he said, suddenly stern*, whose child is this?'

-' I….. Didn't see… I found her just now, and I didn't see anyone.'

-' We have to give her away, Mikoto. She might be dangerous. Or it might be a trap.' He suddenly said, looking around and activating his Sharingan, but was halted mid- way (between standing up) by a tiny hand catching his finger.

-' Fu….. Ga….. Ku?' A tinkling voice asked. Both adults stared at the 3- 4 month old child, who was hanging onto Fugaku's finger tightly. Then she turned to look at Mikoto. -' Mi… Mi…. Miko.. To? Mikoto? Mama?' Mikoto looked shocked. -' Mama? Mama!' And the girl reached out to the woman with a bright smile, stretching her small hands towards her. Failing to ignore her feelings, Mikoto gave up, taking the child and cradling her, whilst giving Fugaku the biggest pleading gaze she could muster.

-' Fugaku. We are keeping her.'

-' But Mikoto….' He trailed off and fell silent, as he saw the determination blazing in her eyes. That same determination that had blazed in her eyes when their first son, Itachi was born. The determination that any mother has. The desire to protect her children.

He nodded and opened the door for her and the new member of the family. Once inside and upstairs, where a 6 year- old Itachi was doting over his 1 year old brother Sasuke, they decided to commence introductions.

Not surprisingly (or surprisingly), Itachi got caught in the girl's spell almost immediately after their eyes met (even though he also had the Sharingan). And so did Sasuke.

But what was definitely surprising, was that Itachi, the usually reserved and silent, almost emotionless Uchiha, came up with a name for the girl and was the first to develop one of the strongest bonds she would ever have in her entire life.

He suggested to name her Seiren, Sei for short. It meant Star Lotus. And surprisingly enough, the name not only fitted her but she also responded to it.

Over time she grew to be loved by most people in the village, being a natural bouncing ball of sunshine. Our story starts when that bouncing ball of sunshine was four.

Seiren POV

I was four now. My birthday had been last week, on the 17th of January.

Even though I was young, my intelligence was rising steadily, and my ninja skills were developing themselves very well. Although I had yet to find my chakra. I wasn't in the ninja academy yet, my training mostly consisted of me sneaking scrolls and books out of our library.

Although I tried not to show I was superior to other kids my age in any way, Itachi somehow knew. (makes me wonder if he knew about everything I did)

He often started talks about chakra training when I was around, and I picked up some very useful tips on those occasions. Also, once, when I had asked for drawing paper, Itachi volunteered to get me some and the next day I found a stack of chakra nature indicator papers on my desk.

So now, I was in the middle of a small clearing in the forest, meditating and trying to find my chakra nature, the stack of paper indicators beside me.

-' Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…..Oooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmm… THIS SUCKS!' I howled in frustration, standing up and abandoning all attempts at meditating with 'OM' sounds. I heard a low hiss and saw a snake slither out from underneath the stump I was sitting on. It looked at me reproachfully with light yellow intelligent eyes. I knelt down to it's level.

-' Sorry, cutie.' I crooned to it in snake language and it rubbed it's snout against my small palm. How cute (yes, I LOVE snakes). And yes, from my very first conscious day, I have always been able to decipher most animals' language, especially snakes. I don't know how I did it, but when I heard a certain creature I was vaguely able to understand what it was speaking about. Then, with more practice, I began to be able to produce different sounds of my own and finally speak with animals. But I could speak only with those whom I immediately understood. For example, I couldn't speak with birds. AT ALL. I couldn't even vaguely understand what their chirping was about. And my attempts at chirping failed miserably. So did my chakra exercises, for that matter.

Anyways, I admired snakes. Sure, they were scary and slimy to most, but what people didn't see is that all snakes had wisdom. They always found the right words to speak to me when I was feeling down, or the right pieces of advice to help me… I admired that, their calm demeanor and especially their abilities. And their movement! My GOD! So quick, silent and deadly! I dreamed as having one as a familiar, but those juts us were WAAAAY above my level. Considering I couldn't even find my own chakra.

-' Now go, cutie, and sorry for disturbing your rest.' I smiled at it, watching it swiftly weave through the tall grass, where it vanished from sight.

Half an hour later.

-' Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmm…' I hummed for the hell knows what time, popping an anime vein on my forehead. I heard a snicker from the bushes behind me, and, without looking, whipped out a kunai and flung it at the noise (intending to scare the person). An ouch followed shortly after, and a boy slightly older than me, with long brown hair tied in a ponytail came out. I turned to face him completely, and noticed his eyes.

-' What do you want, Hyuga?' I asked, annoyed. I didn't like the Hyuga clan after hearing of what they did to their own lower branches, and it was only natural that an Uchiha wouldn't like a Hyuga, right?

-' Well you seem to be needing some help with your training..' He smiled, as I fell off the stump, surprised. Looks like I was wrong. Maybe there is one normal person left in that compound…

-' Erm, ok…. What do you have in mind?'

-' How about I fling kunai's at you?'

-' Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?' I looked at him like he was crazy.

-' When you're physically exhausted, your chakra seems to show more often.' He explained, and after musing slightly, I nodded. I crouched as he pulled out a kunai, dodging swiftly as he flung it at me.

After almost 3 hours of exhausting running and dodging, it was almost sunset. We then went into manual fighting style. Obviously, he wasn't using his Byakougan. Suddenly, my vision increased almost fivefold! I paused, distracted, admiring the rays of sun highlighting the grass a sparkling orange, then my gaze snapped back a second later, to see Neji's hand headed towards my lower ribcage with a kunai. And, judging by the distance and speed he was coming at, he wouldn't be able to stop in time. So I panicked, and, in my desperation, reached deep inside of me, finding a curious energy sleeping in me, waiting to be used. I touched it, pulling it out of it's stupor, and a millisecond before the kunai touched me, black shadows exploded outwards, blowing Neji and his kunai several meters away from me by sheer force. It was a malicious feeling, one that I couldn't control, and I found myself whimpering at its' power, trying to contain it. Then someone rather bravely jumped in front of me, and familiar hands wrapped around my shaking body.

-' Shh, it's alright, try to calm down.' Said the person, and I looked up into liquid onyx eyes. Itachi.

-' Oni- san…' I felt the murderous intent start to disappear, and a few seconds later the shadows dissipated, and bright blue flame- like chakra blossomed around me. Itachi sighed with relief, releasing his gentle hold on me.

-' I thought something like this might happen. *He glared at the direction Neji had flown off to* This stays between the three of us, Hyuga.' He quietly said, looking at the wind- swept kid emerging from the bushes. Neji huffed, crossing his arms, and coldly stared at Itachi.

-' Fine by me.'

Then Itachi stood up, straightening his uniform, and, not sparing the boy a second glance, vanished. As we looked at each other, I beheld Neji's appearance with twigs in his perfectly groomed hair, and started giggling. He tackled me, annoyed. We spent the rest of the evening chasing, tickling and having fun with each other. From that time on, I trained with Neji using my normal chakra, and spent hours meditating trying to control the shadow one. I didn't even hear of a shadow nature chakra before, so I became interested in my true heritage, and was determined to find out about it. So it was a complete surprise when at the age of 5 I awakened my Sharingan. I was in the Sand at the time, Itachi had let me go with a supervisor medic nin named Kabuto. How we met….. Well that was quite funny actually.

-' Get BACK HERE!' Yelled several people running after me and Naruto as we laughed with glee.

-' Oi, Naruto! Gimme your bucket of paint and jump over that fence! And wait for my signal!' I pointed, as he handed me his bucket, jumped over the fence as I had instructed and I poured paint behind me, staining the main street of Konoha yellow, green and blue. Then I dived behind a dustbin (getting a big scratch on my arm as I did so), and kept silent. In a minute bellows of 'Eeeeks!' 'Ows' 'Yeouch' and 'NARUTOOOOOO, SEIREEEEEEN, YOU TWO ARE SO DEAD WHEN WE CATCH YOU!' followed, along with many swear words, sounds of butt hitting painted floor and other similar melodies of a fun prank pulled off successfully.

-' NOW, NARUTO!' I blared with my loudspeaker, as puffs of smoke covered the area and a sexy naked harem Naruto version was seen by all the ninjas following us. The effect was priceless as EVERYONE had a FANTASTIC nosebleed and their blood propelled them off to various parts of Konoha, adding a bright red color to the paint. I was still laughing when someone caught me from behind.

-' NARUTO, SCRAM!' I yelled, punching whomever was holding me quite hard and speeding off in the opposite direction Naruto had gone off to. I could feel the ninja following me, and in an instant he was in front of me, straightening his cracked glasses and sternly looking at me.

-' Seiren, am I correct?'

-' Yeaaaah...' I nodded crestfallenly as he sighed.

-' Give me your hand.'

-' Eh?' I looked at him weirdly, then remembered that I had badly scratched it while scrambling away to cover. -' Oh. Here.' I handed him my hand, as he just held his palm over the scratch, glowing a bright green, and the cut healed.

-' There.'

-' AWESOME!' I yelled, jumping the poor guy. -' THAT WAS MEDICAL NINJUTSU, RIGHT? THEN YOU'RE A MEDIC NIN? AWESOME!'

An hour later.

-' Then there's the Superior Vena Cava. The superior vena cava is one of the two main veins bringing de-oxygenated blood from the body to the heart. Veins from the head and upper body feed into the superior vena cava, which empties into the right atrium of the heart. *he paused, straightening his glasses once more* But why do you even want to know all this?'

-' Hmmmmmmm. Well, I'm interested in anatomy, and I do need to know how to properly cut out a heart from someone so he doesn't die, right?' I smiled sweetly as Kabuto choked on his drink. A second later I was laughing on the floor, and he was looking very annoyed. Then Iruka saw us, walking by, and started marching towards us.

-' Seiren Uchiha, you have been VERY naughty today! I am here to take you to the Hokage with Naruto to punish you.'

-' Bbbbbuuuuut *I racked my brains for a solution* Drawing stuff on the Hokage's face monuments isn't that bad... And they needed to be renewed anyway...'

-' Seiren, such artefacts are NOT to be messed around with! When will you and Naruto understand?' He groaned. Then I brightened.

-' But Kabuto here was already punishing me, right?' I looked at him for confirmation with the biggest puppy dog eyes I could muster.

-' Wha... Ho... What?' Iruka asked, confused.

-' Well Kabuto was lecturing me on the superior vena cava in the heart...'

-' Kabuto? You really did?'

-' Yes, Iruka sensei.'

-' Wow.' Iruka muttered. -' I wouldn't have lived through that. I HATE biology. Well then, Seiren, you're excused, and I'll go find Naruto.' He stood up and went off, eyes scanning every available nook and cranny for my friend.

-' Seiren...'

-' Yes, Kabuto?' I meekly turned.

-' I have helped you only on one condition.'

-' And what is that?' He paused, looking at me.

-' Why, whenever you get hurt you go straight to me, and I'll heal your injury and teach you some stuff on anatomy too.' He grinned as I burst with joy, tackling and glomping him for a while.

After that, Kabuto grew to like me and I him even more with each passing day. He met Itachi when I managed to accidentally use the sewing machine to sew my hand to a handkerchief. And since I was unable to move, I'd just told Itachi to find Kabuto and bring him to our estate (which he did). Then Kabuto had proceeded to heal and untangle my hand from the string, and Itachi finally found out who had been healing his dear little sister all this time. Kabuto became trusted by him.

So now I was travelling to the Sand with my trusted med guide, and constantly annoying him by covering his glasses with shadows and watching him try to read the map.


	3. Chapter 2: Meeting Gaara

So now I was traveling to the Sand with my trusted med guide, and constantly annoying him by covering his glasses with shadows and watching him try to read the map.

-' Seiren!' Bellowed Kabuto, finally bursting his bubble and running after me, ignoring the map that had flown out of his hands. -' JUST WAIT TILL I GET MY HANDS ON YOU!' I giggled, and as Kabuto reached for me with a triumphant yell, I used Body Flicker to change places with a cactus, which he slammed into a millisecond later. I burst out laughing as I saw him get up, the cactus stuck to his face and slowly sliding down, leaving his face looking like a red porcupine.

-' Sei….. Ren… You've crossed the line.' He demonically whispered with an insane look in his eye, as I eeped and ran away from him laughing. Then, just as he was about to catch and tackle me again, I used my shadows to propel myself from the ground high up onto a cliff, where I hung and bounced on the shadows gleefully.

-' SEIREN! GET BACK HERE!' He blared from the entrance to the Sand, as he began running around the village like a crazy person (which he was, I might add) searching for a foothold to walk up to me via one of the sand cliffs. Vainly though. All the cliffs were steep and high, and the only way to get up to the top was to propel yourself like I did. Chakra walking wouldn't help here. Unless, of course, you could fly using your chakra.

Ignoring his yells of 'INJUSTICE!' 'GET BACK HERE OR ITACHI WILL FIND OUT ABOUT THIS!' and etc, etc, I sped off to explore the cliffs. I had some fun there, trying to focus chakra on my feet so I could walk upside down, but failed, falling onto my head.

-' Owwwwie!' I huffed, rubbing my head. After the initial ringing in my ears had subsided, I heard a quiet sobbing coming from somewhere near me. I stood up, searching, and suddenly my vision sharpened. Even though my vision already was much stronger than a normal kunoichi's, this change didn't pass me by. If before I could see far away, but it was blurred, then now I could see clearly! I could notice the thin web of a spider several meters away from me in a dark cave, I could SEE the beams of light passing through the clouds, I could see the ground where they struck it, coloring it a light brown. I could see the cracks in the ground, where tiny insects crawled to their business… I could have stayed like that for the whole day, but the quiet sobbing caught my attention again. I began searching for the source of the sound, and found it 50- 60 meters to my left. Taking a step back, I jumped over the narrow gorge, silently landing not far from a small red haired boy on a swing, using shadows to soften my landing.

Being the curious me, I came forward.

-' Hey!' I said, tapping him on his shoulder. Or, rather, intending to, since a sand shield appeared out of nowhere, protecting him, and sent sand spikes flying at me. I barely dodged (thanks to my increased vision), one slicing my cheek, and skidded to a halt right on the edge of the abyss. My hair broke from the tight bun I had coiled it into (WAY TOO much sand in the Sand) and fell in shimmering light curls over my forehead. The boy turned, shocked to see me still alive, and then gazed at me, mesmerized. No sand seemed to show any desire of attacking me again, so I straightened up and carefully made my way towards the boy again. So this is the Jinchuuriki of the sand, huh. Deadly, even with one tail.

-' Ummmm, hello. What's your name?' I asked, slowly approaching him, as he stared at me in disbelief.

-' Are… You…. Not afraid…. Of me?' He inquired hoarsely.

-' Eh?' I looked at him, surprised. Then I realized. He was probably being horribly mistreated by the people here. Like Naruto. -' No, why would I be?' I smiled at him.

-' Because….. Because I just attacked you! You could've died!'

-' Well, many of us have mood swings *I sheepishly grinned* Besides, you only cut my cheek..' I indicated the slightly bleeding line on my skin. He looked horrified.

-' But I'm….. I'm a monster!' He cried out. I tilted my head in slight confusion, managing to kneel down before him, gently touching his hand and not getting pulverized by sand.

-' No you're not. Just because you have powers that no one else does, it doesn't mean you're a monster. It simply means you're special and unique. Think about it. If all the great extraordinary shinobi in this world stopped being extraordinary and were the same, wouldn't that be boring? If all people looked the same, had the same interests and hobbies, what would there be to talk about? The world thrives on uniqueness, without it there'd just be no variety of anything! Imagine eating the same food every single day for breakfast, lunch and dinner! Wouldn't that be awful? So you shouldn't worry about being an outcast. In time, the people who see you as an outcast will change their opinions and accept you. You shouldn't worry about being unique, alright?' I encouragingly beamed at him. He nodded, absorbing everything I had told him. Then, for the first time, he smiled.

-' My name is Gaara, Gaara of the Sand.' He stretched out his hand shakily.

-' I am Seiren Uchiha, Sei for short.' I firmly grasped his hand and shook it. We talked about various stuff for quite a while (I didn't even note the sun was setting), until I fell silent upon sensing an evil aura behind me. I turned to see Kabuto standing there, a dark purple aura surrounding him (and 10 anime veins on his forehead) and his eyes were hidden.

-' Sei- kun…' He ominously growled, and I eeped, jumping up and scurrying behind Gaara to hide. For a moment, Kabuto looked surprised. Then he ran at me.

-' Gaaaaraaaaaa- kuuuuun! Save meeeeeeee!' I yelled, giggling and running away from Kabuto as he chased me.

-' Wha….. What should I do?' He asked, confused.

-' Nyaaaaaaah, st…. Stop… St.. op… Him… Fr…om….. Tickli… ng… meeeee…. STOP HIM FROM TICKLING ME!' I managed to squeeze out through hiccups and laughing fits. A second later, Kabuto was swept off me with sand as I sat up, hiccuping. Gaara was beside me, a small but genuine smile on his face, and Kabuto was covered in sand, violently sneezing.

-' Why *atchoo* you lit *achooooo* tle *choo* golden- haired *choooooo* devil *AACHOOOOO* SEIREN *CHOOO*.' There was a moment of silence (interrupted only by Kabuto's comic sneezing), and then Gaara laughed… Gaara _laughed_! I stared at him, mouth agape, as his laughter subsided.

-' D… Did I do… Something wrong? I….. I can.. Stop laughing…'

-' CUUUUUUUUTEEEEEEEE!' I yelled, rushing at him and tackling him to the ground, the sand cushioning his and my fall. -' SOOOOOOOOOOO CUUUUUUUUUUTEEEEEEEE!' I squealed at his blush. A light cough was pronounced behind me several minutes later (when I was still cuddling Gaara). Sighing, I glomped Gaara for a good bye.

-' See you later, friend!'

-' F… Friend?' His eyes widened in disbelief.

-' Yup.' I nodded, taking his pinky and curling it with mine. -' Pinky promise.' His face lit up with a smile like a beacon.

-' See you…. Tomorrow?' He asked, and I looked at Kabuto questioningly.

-' Actually, Gaara, we'll be staying here for a week, so she can see you every day if you like.' He straightened his glasses with a hidden smile.

-' See? We have LOADS of time! And we'll play tomorrow! On offhand, Kabuto, what time is it?' He produced a watch from his pocket and when he looked at the time he practically fainted.

-' Seiren, IT'S ALMOST 10 PM! ALL THE INNS ARE GOING TO CLOSE IF WE DON'T MAKE IT THERE IN TWO MINUTES! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?'

-' Ahahah, sorry…' I sheepishly rubbed my head as he grabbed me and Gaara and ninja sped off down the sheer surface of the cliff towards town.

Luckily, we were just in time to book a good room and Kabuto even let Gaara stay with us. I fell asleep with him curiously watching me. Right, I forgot he doesn't sleep…. The last thing I saw before I drifted off to sleep were his beautiful sea- green eyes, free of all the pain and sadness for once, and filled with hope.

-' Friend….'


	4. Chapter 3

Over the next year and a half me and Gaara grew even closer to each other. There would even be times when I would sneak out from the Uchiha estate and Body Flicker to the Sand as quickly as possible because I missed him. And he would always be surprised to see me, but happy nevertheless. I often traveled to the Sand with Kabuto as my usual guide because it was fun. And Itachi wouldn't ever let me go alone. Not that he knew about my nighttime visits, or he would be very mad indeed.

Gaara's birthday had been 5 months ago (so had mine for that matter), and Itachi's was going to be quite soon, followed by Sasuke's.

I had given Gaara a beautiful heavy brooch for keeping his scarf in place, but it was a bit too big for him to wear right now, he would have to grow up a bit before wearing it.

A few months ago

-' Gaaaaaaaaaraaaaaa!' I bellowed at a certain red- haired kid standing near the gate. I proceeded to jump, passing harmlessly through his sand shield, and glomp his soul out. -' Gaaaaraaaaa- kuuuuuun! Gaara- kun! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!' I yelled, as Kabuto tried to pry me off, but to no avail. Then Gaara's sand whooshed up and took us away to our favorite rooftop.

An hour later.

-' Owwwwwwww, ouch, ow! Yeouch! That hurts, Sei- kun!'

-' Wait a bit more…*OWWWWW* There!' He looked down, following my line of gaze and gasped, fingering the heavy beautiful brooch barely fastened to his thin shirt and scarf.

-' Thank you, Sei, thank you so much!'

-' Happy bday, Gaara!'

We spent the next week eating as much sweets as we could (a dare), practicing chakra control (which sucked for both of us), playing hide- and- seek (including Kabuto), and just fooling around in the dunes. Then I had to leave again.

-' Bye, Gaara!' I waved. -' I'll definitely visit you sometime next month!'

-' Bye, Sei, it's a deal!' He waved back, as Kabuto piggybacked me and ninja ran towards the Leaf. I enjoyed such things, it gave me time to think over stuff I wanted to do and the pranks I would pull with Naruto. Come to think of it, we weren't really close. I must somehow make it up to him when I get back…

Back to story.

The 9th of June

It was early morning, four or maybe five o'clock. I silently glided down the stairs on my shadows, moving towards Itachi's room which was on the ground floor and opened up to a small lovely garden. I paused before the door, switching on my Sharingan (that nobody knew of yet except Neji) to see if Itachi was awake or asleep. (My Sharingan could sense if other Sharingans were activated near me). Hmmm, seems safe. I switched it off, letting my shadows unlock the door and silently open it. I was just about to poke Itachi, scaring him on the morning of his birthday, when his arm rose from underneath the covers and effortlessly hugged me to him, restricting my movement and ignoring my yelps of protests. The blanket was thrown over me and I was met with a messy- haired head of Itachi looking at me sleepily, eyes half- closed.

-' I….. Itachi- onii san….' I squeaked, giggling nervously.

-' You idiot. Just because your Sharingan can sense other activated Sharingans, it doesn't mean I am not sleeping.' He stated with a sigh.

-' Oh. Ooooops… I'm an idiot!' I grumbled, smacking my head into the pillow several times before Itachi gently stopped me from doing so.

-' No, you are not an idiot. You are just young, and you have a lot to learn.' He said calmly, smiling slightly as I swiveled round to face him.

-' I know, and when I grow up I want to be strong and clever like you, onii- san!' I said, turning to him and snuggling into his shirt. An unidentifiable expression crossed his face at that moment, and even made him doubt what he was about to do, but then he looked at the mop of sunny hair snuggling to him and decided it would be for the better. Of course, since I was busy cuddling him, I didn't notice his expression.

-' Oh, and Itachi! Happy birthday!' I smiled at him. -' Now, close your eyes.' He obeyed, and, startled, opened his eyes a second later after I clasped the chain around his neck. He stood up, leaving me among the warm covers, and went to his mirror. There he looked in wonder at the necklace of 3 eyes I had made him. Well it didn't LOOK like an eye, it had the shape of a slanted eye. There were 3 eyes connected by a chain, made out of my shadows to resemble metal. It was slightly crude, but with my level of mastery over the shadows it was perfect. He came back, kneeling beside the bed, and placed a hand on my head.

-' Thank you, Seiren.' He softly said, smiling. My eyes big in wonder (he had never given me SUCH a big smile), he scooped me up and took me to my room.

-' Oi, Itachi, remember you have that academy thingy with Sasuke today? Please go to it?' I begged, as he turned to me with a sad glimmer in his eye, almost instantly replaced by the usual emotionlessness.

-' Of course I'll go. Oh, and Kabuto said he's going to the Sand today because he needs some metal supplies which only they have.'

-' OHHHH! CAN I GO TOO? PLEEEEEAAAASEEE?'

-' Of course. That's why I told you. But be sure to be back in time for Sasuke's birthday, he'll….. Need some cheering up and a good gift.'

-' Hm! Sure! Then… Is it alright if I go now? I mean, you won't be mad or upset that I missed out on your birthday, right?' I asked, worried, but was reassured instantly by his smile and a nod. Then the door closed and I began to feverishly pack. Itachi wanted me to go. He wanted me to be gone longer than usual. He's probably hiding something from me, but never mind. Ill find out about it once he gets back. And whatever he does, he always does for a reason. And that reason is usually just. So I'm sure Itachi's right again, and I won't bother with thinking about it. After all, mom made him a cake and Sasu is staying, so I'm sure he won't be lonely.

-' Kkkkkkkkkaaaaaaaaaaaabbbbbbb bbbuuuuuuuuuutttttttttttttoo oooooooooooo!' I bellowed through the town, searching for him with my shadows. Then I spotted him heading towards the main gate, and sped off towards that direction. -' Kabuto! Waaaaaaaaiiiiiitttttt! WAIT! ITACHI SAID I COULD COME WITH YOU! FOR ALMOST A MONTH! WAAAAAAIT UUUUUUUPPPPP!' I yelled, as Kabuto finally heard me and obediently stopped to wait.

-' Onward, my trusty mare!' I said, poking Kabuto in the neck while piggyback- riding him. He swiveled around, crazy- eyed.

-' Seiren, I am not a mare. A mare is a female horse.'

-' Alrighty, then onward my trusty stallion!' I said, poking him again and using my other hand to point in the direction of the Sand. He grumbled something under his breath and ran off faster than ever. I squealed with glee at the scenery whipping past us, and Kabuto grinned.

The Sand

-' GAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAA A!' I screamed throughout the village, many astonished villagers looking at me like I was crazy. Kabuto had let me off the hook, because he needed to 'attend some matters', so here I was, in the middle of Suna, yelling for Gaara. Finally, he appeared on the horizon, bewildered I was here. -' GAAARAAAAAA! I'M HERE!' I bellowed to him, as his sand once again surrounded me and whisked me off to the cliffs.

We spent the month perfecting our chakra, and we even tried mingling his sand with my shadow chakra. The result was weird. Black sand. And that was it.

Temari and Kankuro brought us (well, me) a few chakra nature indicator papers, and finally (since I had MUCH more control over my second chakra), I was able to let a small amount of my chakra leak onto the paper. The effect was instantaneous! The paper was completely consumed by the shadows, Gaara even dropped it in surprise. So we really didn't get much info on my chakra nature. Oh well, a try is a try…

Then Kabuto had to leave earlier because he just realized he had some 'unfinished matters' to deal with back in the Leaf, and we were in quite a hurry to leave.

-' Oi, Gaara, sorry for leaving at short notice..' I trailed off apologetically, but having a bad feeling in my soul.

-' It's fine *he waved a hand* Even if something happens and you don't come back, I'll definitely become a strong great unique ninja and find and protect you!' He said confidently, grinning all the way. In almost 2 years he had transformed from a lonely, sad, self- hating person, to a warm, friendly… Friend!

-' Bye Temari, bye Kankuro!' I yelled, waving at the two figures on the wall who were still too afraid to come near Gaara.

-' Bye Sei, come visit us soon!' -' Totally!' They yelled back.

But I was not to see them for six long eventful years. When we came back to the Leaf, the Hokage himself came over to inform me of the massacre of the Uchiha clan by no other than my dear brother Itachi last week. The sole survivors were me, Sasuke (who was now in the hospital in a state of mental shock, they said Itachi used the Tsukiyomi on him), and Itachi himself. Obviously the news shocked me so greatly that I burst into tears and would've collapsed had Kabuto not caught me. After crying for 2 days straight in the hospital, my brain and senses began to return to me. And I realized that Itachi hadn't just massacred my family to find out if he was strong. He had planned it all long before, that's why he told me to leave with Kabuto. I propped myself up in the bed. There was something more to this. Something bigger. Something secret. And in any case, no matter how strong Itachi was, he couldn't have killed THAT many Sharingan users on his own. Someone had to have helped him. And now I intended to find out the truth.

Sasuke had stopped visibly caring for me, no longer being the cheerful and happy onii- san I once knew. He became almost emotionless, cold, focused only on killing his brother. And that's when I decided to find out the truth myself. I had to start, I realized, with a new identity, a new S- rank notorious criminal who would infiltrate the criminal world and slowly, piece by piece, get to the truth. I needed a new me.


	5. Chapter 4: Main story start

The new S- rank criminal appeared after Seiren turned 11.

For the 6 years after Itachi had left, she had trained vigorously and secretly, developing her Sharingan and jutsus she had mastered. At age 9, she had stolen the bingo book from a certain grey- haired ninja reading Icha- Icha paradise. The pervert hadn't even noticed. At age 10 she had discovered a huge secret ANBU library under Konoha, filled with various scrolls, books, and TONS of information! It was amazing, the things you could find with shadows! If you're asking, how could a mere child have gotten through the security- the answer is simple. By the time she was 10, she had sufficiently enough mastered her shadow chakra. Now she could manipulate shadows, travel through them and hide in them if needed. The result would be a one- way mirror: she could see them, but they couldn't see her. The only minus was that they could hear her, and at her level it wouldn't take much chakra force to break through her shadow mirror.

At age 11 she had succeeded in absorbing the knowledge of hundreds of scrolls and books, and was still eager for more. Jutsus fascinated her, there were simply SO MANY of them! And such interesting ones too! One scroll she had found was exceedingly useful: it taught info on changing your outward appearance (hair style, color, length, eye color…). That very scroll had helped in creating a new S- rank criminal. From shadows Seiren made herself a second form, one she could call out at any time. Her form looked like a slightly different older version of her, 20 years old, semi- short, spiky white hair tied into two ponytails (see my pics if you want to see how she looks), red eyes and an unusual Sharingan (it looked like Juubi, but different). She wore a tight black bodysuit, covered ninja shoes, a black mask (kinda like Kakashi's- covering half of her lower face) and only her sleeves and belt were a pearly transparent white. On her face she had butterfly- like markings, which were later the reason for her 'nickname'. Her weapons were poisoned shadow daggers, which, when embedded in someone, would turn to shadows and return back to her (so she no longer wasted kunai's), and shadow katanas she could materialize at any time (imagine Celty's power from Durarara)

All in all, she looks slightly like a female version of Kakashi. SLIGHTLY.

Seiren POV

I stood up with a sigh, pulling my katana out of a body with a slopping sound. Man, only to get info, INFO about a shady organization, I've already had to kill 50 people! What a waste! And I only found out the NAME of the organization, even after all of this! Ugh.

-' This sucks…' I groaned, stretching my tired muscles and letting my katana dissolve. Over the past year, I had managed to acquire quite a reputation. It actually happened accidentally! I was just about to kill a target I had chosen, when rogue ninjas appeared out of flipping nowhere! They not only killed MY target, but also massacred MOST of the people and ninja in the tiny village! I would've been neutral to that (since I didn't want to get caught), but one of the rogues just HAD to see me when I was leaving! So I was forced to kill all the rogues. And everyone in the ninja world thought I had been the one who killed all of these people. Well bummer! Seriously? Oh well, if that's how I got my fame, then that's how I got it. Not my fault. A leaf ninja had sighted me and reported back. And that's how it all had started. Shortly after I was assaulted by some higher- ranked criminals and killed them too, afterwards giving the bodies of the most wanted ones to bounty collectors and getting money for them. And quite a lot too.

Not so long ago I had decided to specialize on being a thief- bounty hunter. My work was stealing various artifacts and scrolls, then selling them to parties that offered the highest price. With this approach, I was bound to come across the Akatsuki sooner or later. But for now…. I yanked the cursed double- blade weapon I had come here for out of what was left of the body of the man who had tried to stab me with it. Now his body was being consumed by shadows. I had been searching for this blade for hell knows how long. I had heard that it was cursed with shadows, and, seeing as my chakra was literally made out of shadows, I decided to find it.

And as it turns out….. I twirled the staff weapon in my hand, shadows dancing in it's leaf- shaped blades. It's absolutely PERFECT for me! It's a weapon that accepts ONLY shadow chakra! So only users like me can work with it! And since no one had ever even HEARD of a shadow chakra, the weapon was proclaimed cursed.

I cut my finger on the blade, forming a few handsigns.

-' Spirit of the Black Moon, I wish to seal a contract with you.' I spoke to it, letting the blood get soaked in by the shadows.

-' Who speaks?' Asked a deep voice. I smirked. So it WAS true that the blade had a spirit contractor.

-' I am Seiren Uchiha, and I wield the shadow chakra.' The voice chuckled.

-' What makes you think you are worthy of wielding me?'

-' I do not think I am worthy, but I wish to become so with your help.' I humbly answered, and the spirit chuckled once more.

-' You speak well, young one. Very well, you have captured my interest. For one so young to almost completely master the malicious chakra of the Azaya clan, it is remarkable.' (Note: Azaya is short for brilliant shadow, the full version is Azayakana) Slightly startled to find out my true surname, I nevertheless accepted.

-' I hereby seal this contract in my name and blood.'

-' And I confirm you are from now on my legitimate user and contractor.' His voice boomed, as shadows surrounded me in a whirlwind and chakra seeped through my skin, etching a black flame- like marking on the back of my neck. I arched my back as electricity shot through my spine and I crumpled, unconscious, but still feeling the amazing surge of power blossoming through me. What felt like an eternity later, I woke up in my bed back in my true form. Confused, I slid the covers off me, wondering if it all was a dream. However my hand closed closed on the thin cold staff of the weapon lying next to me. The voice of the spirit I had heard before had disappeared. Now it was simply a beautiful deadly weapon. I jumped off the bed, grabbing it, and decided to test it out. Concentrating, I felt the chakra inside it, and started gathering it on the tip of the blade. Then, pointing it at the window, I released it. It blared off (like a cero in Bleach) and made a huge perfectly round hole in the wall. Fudge. AWESOME! But for now I'll have to learn to control this power. And… I looked around the room, sweatdropping. I needed a place to hide all my work, scrolls and money. Yeah, this is gonna be a looooooong year….

Over this year, I searched for a place to hide my stuff. So I used one of the basic ninja jutsus: the locator. I used it in the mountains near Konoha, and found a small pool in a field. That pool led to a huge underground lake with a cavern. The cavern seemed to be very old- it had HUGE crystals of amethyst and quartz growing all over the place! Not to mention the transparent crystals in the water! So I decided to make that my 'base' and move all my stuff there. I protected the tunnel leading to the lake with my shadows, which (fortunately) never sapped my chakra. Then I veiled the whole underground cavern with the help and shadows from the Black Moon spirit, hiding it from enemy trackers. Lastly, I spent a most boring day either Body Flickering or transporting stuff via shadows to the cavern. And in the meantime, my S- rank grew even more wanted.

Main Story Start.

I was one of the first to arrive in class that day, a brand- new Leaf ninja headband sewed to my kunai pouch on my left leg (so it doesn't get in the way when I fight).

Today was the day we were going to be split into teams of 3 and we would also be getting our team instructors. I wonder if Naruto passed the test….

After most of the class had come, Naruto sidled in with an amazingly proud grin on his face. My eyes were glued to his forehead, where instead of the usual goggles was a legitimate Leaf Ninja headband. I gave him a thumbs- up and a wink as he passed by me.

-' Naruto? What are you doing here?' Shikamaru asked, surprised. -' You can't be here unless you graduate.' Naruto started violently pointing to his forehead.

-' Oh yeah? See this? Open your eyes, Shikamaru, it's a regulation headband! We're gonna be training together, how do you like that?' Shika hmphed and Naruto launched into explaining how great he looked in that headband. I giggled slightly. Same old Naruto. My gaze drifted to Hinata, my second best friend, who was sitting next to me and practically drooling over him. Then the door snapped open and Ino and Sakura came bustling in, trying to squeeze through the door together. Seems nothing changed even though they became respectable ninja. Although for getting to the 'respectable' part, they still needed a lot of work.

-' I'M FIRST!' Both proclaimed to the class, then began to heavily pant.

-' I win again, Sakura!'

-' Give it up… My toe was at least an inch ahead!'

-' Have you always been this delusional?'

I shook my head in disbelief, as Naruto acquired a vivid blush when he saw Sakura. Seriously, what does he see in her that I don't? Wait! It must be her hair…. It's so soft and shampooed! Maybe that's it! Nope. I threw away all fantasies of Sakura's shampoo as she rudely pushed Naruto aside upon seeing Sasuke.

-' Uh, good morning, Sasuke. *he turned his head* Mind if I sit next to you?'

-' Back off, forehead, I'm sitting next to Sasuke!'

-' I was here first!'

-' I walked into the classroom before you did, and everybody saw it!

-' Dream on..'

-' I'm sitting next to Sasuke!'

-' No I am!'

-' I arrived before you two!'

-' So did I!'

I watched in amused silence as more girls began to flock round Sasuke, claiming they had arrived before and were going to sit next to him. Suddenly, I felt someone watching us. I used my shadows to distance myself from the noise in the classroom, and found myself in the Hokage's room. If he noticed any flicker of chakra, he dismissed it.

-' Most promising new students, Sasuke and Seiren Uchiha. Is that them?'

-' Yes, they're the ones.'

-' They're the only survivors left from the Uchiha clan.'

-' That's right.' Replied the Hokage

-' Hmmmm…... Hmmmmmmmm, Naruto Uzumaki.' Murmured a grey- haired ninja, and with a start I recognized him to be the one from whom I'd stolen my first bingo book. Since there was no prolonging of the conversation, I decided to get back to my body. I saw Naruto getting mad and slightly edged away from the end of the desk (just in case). Then Naruto (predictably) jumped onto the desk in front of Sasuke and started glaring at him. My brother being the idiot he is, started glaring back. Lightning buzzed between their stares. I snickered slightly at how the day had begun, and all the girls began yelling at Naruto to leave Sasuke alone.

-' Naruto! HEY STOP GLARING AT SASUKE!' Sakura yelled. Then the boy behind Naruto moved his arm back, hitting the orange- clad genin.

-' Oh, sorry, did I bump you?' The boy asked politely, turning round, and froze. All eyes in the classroom (and the Hokage's office) were on Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto had fallen slightly forward, causing him to accidentally kiss Sasuke.

-' What the…' Mumbled a shocked Sakura

-' I… Uh…' Ino was in a stupor

All the girls screamed in horror, as Sasuke and Naruto quickly separated, wiping their mouths in disgust and making icky noises. I almost choked laughing, and slid off my chair underneath the desk, howling in silent laughter. A second later I felt a VERY evil aura.

-' NARUTO?'

-' H….. Hold on, Sakura… IT…. IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!' Naruto started edging away, but was beaten up by most girls a second later.

-' As usual, Naruto is right in the middle of trouble.' I giggled to Hinata, who looked positively horrified while Naruto was being beaten up.

A while later Iruka walked in and started talking about teams, teachers, and yatta yatta yatta. I dozed off, waking up from Hinata poking me.

-' Hnyah? What?' I drowsily asked.

-' Our turn is soon, wake up.' She softly said.

-' Squad Seven: Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and Seiren Uchiha. You have four members because our number of students is uneven, and I decided that Seiren would be best in your squad. Squad Eight: Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame.'

I dozed off again as Naruto began complaining why he was put in a squad with the 'duckbutt'.

-' It's quite simple, Naruto. I've balanced you out. Sasuke and Seiren passed with the highest possible marks, Sakura's marks were slightly lower, and you failed. No more questions? Good. Now then, after lunch you'll meet your new instructors, for now you're all free to go.

I stood up, stretching. An interesting start to the day, let's hope it'll continue being as interesting.


End file.
